I know that many of us struggle through this time of year. I certainly do. Part of it is that it’s the season of “togetherness” and therefore it’s the time of year when I feel most alone.
It’s the time of year when I really notice that we don’t get invited to many things. It’s the downside of being a one parent family. In my experience, most of my friends and family think about inviting other “families” to their christmas parties and gatherings, and that usually means having a grown up man so that their husband has someone to talk to. (Obviously I don’t have enough single parent friends.)
When I’ve been in relationship, this time of year has been busy busy busy. When I’m not, it’s extremely solitary.
And then my boys go to DH. And the dark cloud descends. The sad and lonely cloud.
Christmas Day was pretty good this year. I have one of those families who really only get together on Christmas Day. Obviously I see my parents all the time, but my brothers have full lives which do not include me and my children.
We did have an uneventful Dec 25 this year… not always guaranteed. Toto and Boo were pretty exhausted and a bit lethargic, but other than vomiting in the garden bed a couple of times, all went well.
My beautiful niece Jaz
Papa and Nonie
The cousins
The boy cousins
Boo taking a quiet moment with a new magic set
Harry and Tim …. son and father
Toto in a pensive moment
Father and son….. Papa and Matt
Boo in a less exhausted momentWe were invited to a family “do” on Boxing Day… The little cousins got to hang out together again, and we grown up cousins enjoyed a rare catch up.
Uncle Jim (my Dad’s brother) and Auntie Rose. Precious.
My favourite cousin… Katie.
My Dad
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Beautiful images -I love the colour tonings, they will be treasured.
I hope the cloud is short lived and a rainbow finds you really soon. -
I’m glad you had a nice Christmas Day. I know what you mean about the “families at Christmas time thing”. I hope the cloud passes quickly. xoxoxoxo
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What beautiful photos. I thought that one of your niece was you when you were younger!
I hope your cloud passes over quickly, and takes mine with it
xxxxx -
Lovely photos Fe.
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I forgot to say earlier – beautiful photos! xx
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Beautiful photos!! I wish there was more of you though.
Your post is very sad. You sound so lonely. I really feel for you.
I haven’t been in your situation, but I’ve been lonely. And the dark cloud….yeah. I guess we all have that sometimes.
I hope the dark cloud doesn’t stay for long.
When will you get your boys back?
Anyway, email me if you need to talk…Okay?
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Gorgeous photo’s. I can’t believe how grown up H looks!
I wish I was there to spend time with you….have a pizza dinner, a glass of wine and a good converstaion on the verandah…sigh. Miss you. -
Beautiful photos. Christmas is a funny time of the year for so many people. This year we had a quieter day which suited me as I just miss my own family far away more when its all crazy busy. I hope the boys are well on their way to recovery!
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Beautiful photos.
You are very talented.
Good to hear that you all had an okay time. -
come to our place Fe – open invitation – always … we will have you and the boys for you – no label or convention required …
MIC likes female company – think we are more engageing than most men in general and he likes the challenge …. hugs le
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Gorgeous photos. Glad to hear the boys are feeling better.
Happy New Year!
xxxxxxx -
Great photos Fe. I hope that the new year is a wonderful one for you.
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If you don’t mind me asking, what kind of camera do you use, and has there been any retouching done on the photos?
They are truly fantastic shots. -
Thanks so much everyone! I’m thrilled that you all like the photos!
Hi Sher..
I use a Nikon D70s with an AF-S Nikkor 18-200mm lens with VR.
And I do use Photoshop to fix white balance (if necessary), exposure (again if necessary) and sometimes apply edge blur, or other effects. Hopefully subtlely.
Pioneer Woman has some wonderful photoshop actions that she gives away on her site… (http://thepioneerwoman.com/photography/2008/04/actions/) and (http://thepioneerwoman.com/photography/2008/12/pioneer-woman-action-set-2-yahoo-yippety/)… (thanks to Guera for sending me in her direction)
… and I often use some of them.. changing the opacity of the layer to suit the photo.
I rarely (Very rarely) ever crop a photo. It can be quite difficult to know if the exposure etc is perfect using a view finder, but I make an effort to frame the shot as best I can.
Hope that’s helpful! So glad you liked the photos… it’s hard to tell if I like them just because of who’s in them rather than because they’re good pics.
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Oh, and I also always shoot in RAW format and have been developing actions of my own which I’m using. It’s an amazing way to get to know photoshop.
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